Fußball-Bundesliga

Easy one Croak Hoffenheim have no real history as a Football Club, they have a small fanbase and are only in the top Division because they are heavily financed by a rich individual/group. Take away the millions and they would be back where they belong.......in the lower divisions. Not a tradition Club at all, verging on fake. Nessie i think would agree.

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I fully agree with you, PackerFan71. Its simply an artifical club with no history and they even tried to compensate their lack of history by using a new name. Formerly known as TSG Hoffenheim they suddenly called themselves 1899 (!) Hoffenheim.
They only exist because Mr. Hopp, the co-founder of SAP, put his money into the club.
And to make it clear - teams like Hoffenheim or Volkswagen (VFL Wolfsburg) may win a Championship one day - but they will never ever be at eye level with Hamburg, Schalke or Gladbach for example.
This excerpt from Wikipedia might be interesting for you guys too, the "loudspeaker story" is still ridiculous

Criticism

Dietmar Hopp's financial support, which transformed Hoffenheim from a local amateur club into a competitive Bundesliga club, has been strongly criticized by other clubs, fans and some in the German press. The main points of criticism are the club's lack of "tradition" and a proper fan base as the club is a historically insignificant side from a village of just 3,300 inhabitants. The situation is akin to that of now-defunct Scottish side Gretna and German clubs VfL Wolfsburg and Bayer 04 Leverkusen, as both those teams also received large financial support by German companies. VfL Wolfsburg is wholly owned and supported by automobile manufacturer VW, Bayer 04 Leverkusen by pharmaceutical company Bayer. Despite this Leverkusen and Wolfsburg are nonetheless different from Hoffenheim because of their long history as football clubs founded by the factory workers themselves, and have been successful chiefly through their own merits rather than outside funding.

On 16 August 2011, the club released a statement regarding complaints of a loudspeaker that was strategically placed under away fans during a home game against Borussia Dortmund. The loudspeaker was designed to drown out the noise of the away fans cheers and chants during the game. It is reported that the speaker was placed by the groundskeeper and the club denies any involvement saying he acted alone. It is also reported that the loudspeaker was used during other games not just the home game against Borussia Dortmund.[1]

''the club is a historically insignificant side from a village of just 3,300 inhabitants. The situation is akin to that of now-defunct Scottish side Gretna''

A very good comparison, Gretna reached the Premier League and the Scottish Cup Final. They lost the Final and were Relegated the following season, the owner ran out of money and died shortly after. Gretna were then thrown out of the Scottish Leagues and now no longer exist. Hoffenheim beware.

It looks like I'm not going to get to watch the game today. I have a long "honey do" list and she's here with me to make sure it gets done. But we have to get the house ready for the cold weather coming up...sigh.

It looks like I'm not going to get to watch the game today. I have a long "honey do" list and she's here with me to make sure it gets done. But we have to get the house ready for the cold weather coming up...sigh.

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Its only against Augsburg today Croak, it will be an easy win for Bayern and you wont miss anything important.

So far she hasn't started working on things, so I got to see the first half!

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Dont move, keep quiet and maybe you have chance to watch the second half as well.
And its still early morning across the pond, isnt it ? Enough time to do all the work after the game....
I've done most of the work around the house and especially in the garden last saturday morning and sunday. Winter can come.....

Dont move, keep quiet and maybe you have chance to watch the second half as well.
And its still early morning across the pond, isnt it ? Enough time to do all the work after the game....
I've done most of the work around the house and especially in the garden last saturday morning and sunday. Winter can come.....

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My wife loves me. She let me watch the whole thing with no hassle. I guess when you've been married 34 years, you learn to be patient with your spouse. Oh, and BTW;

I noticed a size difference between the Bayern players and the Augsburg players. Either Augsburg has a bunch of little guys or Bayern has giants. Boateng, Dante and Kirchoff towered over those poor Augsburg players.

I still have a set of Packers beer glasses from the 1960s. Does that count in this contest??

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No, only football/soccer related items count. I guess most of the Americans didnt even know that there is another football played on this planet those days
But to be serious - 60's sounds pretty cool, how about posting a picture Croak ?!

No, only football/soccer related items count. I guess most of the Americans didnt even know that there is another football played on this planet those days
But to be serious - 60's sounds pretty cool, how about posting a picture Croak ?!

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I'm not real tech savvy but I'll see what I can do.

In other news, I just read that Reus has a release clause in his contract and other teams are looking at him. First Goetze, then Lewandoski, and now Reus. What's going on in Dortmund?

In other news, I just read that Reus has a release clause in his contract and other teams are looking at him. First Goetze, then Lewandoski, and now Reus. What's going on in Dortmund?

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I think a release clause has become pretty usual nowadays and sometimes teams have to accept this because otherwise the player signs with another team.
The release clause fee for Reus is 35m Euros, I guess no need to worry for Dortmund in case Reus wants to leave one day.
But as much as I know they are already negotiating with Reus to remove this clause from his contract. Looks like a big payday for Reus if he agrees